Release from 22.05.2024

Asiago signs defenceman Matt Cairns

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Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey has signed defenceman Matt Cairns. The 26-year-old has mainly played in the East Coast Hockey League in the last years, most recently with Indy Fuel. Now the Canadian comes to Europe for the first time. HC Pustertal also presented its first new addition to the defence, Austin Osmanski.

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In his junior years, Matt Cairns first played two seasons in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, then in the United States Hockey League and the British Columbia Hockey League. During his time in the OJHL, the defenceman was called up to wear the Canada East jersey for the U19 World Junior A Challenge - a tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada, the Canadian Junior Hockey League and the IIHF. In addition to the honour of representing Canada East, he was drafted 84th overall in the third round by the Edmonton Oilers in 2016.

After college, Cairns started his professional career - mainly in the ECHL, but he also made a few appearances in the AHL. In the East Cost Hockey League, he played for the Cincinnati Cyclones until mid-December 2023, when he moved to the Indy Fuel. He had 170 games and 41 points (6G, 35A) over three years.

Matt Cairns: "I'm very excited to join a team with such a great tradition. I can't think of a better place for my first European season. I was very interested in playing in the win2day ICE Hockey League and I heard a lot of good things about the city of Asiago. I wanted to play in a league at a high level where individual and team success counts."

Asiago has thus found another piece for the team for the coming season. The Italians recently announced the signing of Nick Moutrey. The 28-year-old forward joins the Yellow-Red from French side Angers. The Canadian previously played for Liiga club Ässät and Rungsted Seier Capital from Denmark.

New defenceman in Bruneck
Austin Osmanski is the first new addition to HC Pustertal's defence. The US-American played in junior hockey for the Buffalo Sabres, among others. After an intermezzo at university level, he made the leap to the pros in 2021 at the age of 21. In those three years, the left winger's appearances were split between the AHL (47 games) and ECHL (35 games). Now he's making the move to Europe for the first time with HC Pustertal.

Austin Osmanski: "My goal is to enrich the team with physical play. I enjoy defending hard and, if possible, making an offensive impact. The brand new arena, the beautiful city and the fantastic support from the fans are something I've never experienced before. I will give everything to bring a championship to the Puster Valley!"